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USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
The [[USS Enterprise|'USS ''Enterprise]] (NCC-1701)' was a Federation starship, [[Constitution class|''Constitution class]], built and commissioned in the early 23rd century. It was the first Federation starship to bear the name, and was named in honor of several historical ships bearing the name, including ''Enterprise'' NX-01 of the United Earth Starfleet and the [[USS Enterprise (CV-6)|USS Enterprise CV-6]] of the United States Navy. The Crew of the USS Enterprise (2243-2285) See [[Crew of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|Crew of the USS ''Enterprise (NCC-1701)]].'' * Commanding officer: ** Captain Robert April (2243-2251) ** Captain Christopher Pike (2251-2264) ** Captain James T. Kirk (2264-2270) ** Captain Zarlo ** Captain Willard Decker (2270-2273) ** Admiral James T. Kirk (2273-2283) ** Captain Spock (2283-2285) * First officer: ** Lieutenant Commander George Samuel Kirk Sr. (2243) ** Commander Shundresh (2245-2246) ** Commander Lorna Simon (2246-2251) ** Lieutenant Commander "Number One" (2251-2264) ** Commander Spock (2264-2270) ** Captain Willard Decker (2273) ** Commander Spock (2273-2283) Construction History The Enterprise was the second Constitution class vessel to be authorized and construction began at Starfleet Division, San Francisco Fleet Yards, Earth on July 16th 2242. Overseeing the construction was Captain Robert April, after being appointed by Commodore van Anling, who worked closely with naval architect Lawrence Marvick, chief construction engineer Franz Joseph IV, and their team, which included Bernice Hart and Montgomery Scott. (TAS novelisation: "The Counter-Clock Incident"; TOS novels Best Destiny and Vulcan's Glory) :In the Early Voyages comic "Flesh of my Flesh" April states that he took command of the ship shortly after the completely of construction at the Utopia Planitia Yards. Construction on the vessel proceeded well, and 2243 saw the introduction of the prototype duotronic computer system developed by Dr. Richard Daystrom. The introduction proved vital to the ship later that year, when the half-complete Enterprise was ordered on a top secret mission into the Romulan Neutral Zone to rescue the stricken Federation colony ship [[SS Rosenberg|SS Rosenberg]] without attracting the Romulans' attention. Captain April, with the help of acting first officer, Lieutenant George Samuel Kirk Sr., managed to rescue the colonists, and make it back to Federation space with the help of t'Cael Zaniidor Kilyle, Field Primus of the Second Imperial Swarm, and commander of the Imperial Swarmbird Raze. (TOS novel: Final Frontier) Service History Under Captain April Construction of the Enterprise was completed by early 2245, and the Enterprise was officially launched on July 4th 2245 by Federation President Samuel Solomon Qasr, and attended by former President Jonathan Archer, who had been the commander of the United Earth ship ''Enterprise'' NX-01 nearly a century earlier. Following the launch ceremony, the Enterprise began shakedown cruises under the command of Captain April. The shakedown cruises went well and the Enterprise was finally commissioned on January 3rd 2246 and began its first five-year mission of exploration. (TAS novelisation: "The Counter-Clock Incident"; and ENT episode: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II") In October 2246, the Enterprise was the first Federation ship to reach Tarsus IV with food and supplies for the famine-stricken colony; however, interference from the Klingons meant that the Enterprise was too late to stop the execution of 4,000 colonists at the hands of Kodos the Executioner. (Enterprise Logs short story: "Though Hell Should Bar the Way") In 2249, the Enterprise welcome back George Samuel Kirk Sr. and his 16-year-old son James T. Kirk, as the starship transports them to a newly discovered archaeological site on the planet Faramond. (TOS novel: Best Destiny) Under Captain Pike The Enterprise returned from its first successful five-year mission in January 2251, and Captain April was promoted to commodore. April recommended that Christopher Pike, who at that time commanding the [[USS Yorktown (NCC-1704)|USS Yorktown]], would be a logical replacement. (TOS novel: Vulcan's Glory) The Enterprise began its second five-year mission under the command of Captain Christopher Pike in mid-2251. In 2254, Pike made contact with the Talosians of Talos IV. Due to their ability to project illusions, Starfleet ships were forbidden to ever again visit the planet. Under General Order 7, such a visit was grounds for the only death penalty left in Starfleet. (TOS episodes: "The Menagerie, Parts I & II") Under Captain Kirk Captain James T. Kirk assumed command of the Enterprise in 2264, just before his 31st birthday, making him the youngest starship captain at that time. Kirk's first mission aboard the Enterprise wasn't a deep-space exploratory mission or a mission of importance, but to transport the Warp-Speed Classic Vaudeville Company around the Federation Phalanx to Starbase 13. Although Kirk was very reluctant to this first assignment, Admiral Kimitake Noguchi, thought he needed the time to work out his command, and ordered him to do it or lose the Enterprise. The voyage was far from uneventful, however, after encountering the rebel Klingon Bird-of-Prey Quundar, and encountering a generational vessel. (TOS novel: Enterprise: The First Adventure) After a brief shakedown and refit, the Enterprise was launched on a further five-year mission of exploration under Captain Kirk in 2265. On stardate 1512.2, Kirk managed to prevent Commander Balok of the First Federation vessel Fesarius from destroying the Enterprise after he bluffed Balok into believing that the Enterprise was equipped with a corbomite device. This tactic again proved useful in 2267 when facing the Romulans. (TOS episodes: "The Corbomite Maneuver" and "The Deadly Years") On stardate 4202.9, the Enterprise engaged a planet-killer that was designed to consume planets for fuel on its mission of conquest. The device was later revealed to be a prototype weapon developed by the Preservers. (TOS episode: "The Doomsday Machine" and TNG novel: Vendetta) In early 2267, Captain Kirk, Commander Spock, and Dr. McCoy encountered Zefram Cochrane alive on the planetoid, Gamma Canaris N. He had been preserved by an entity known as the Companion who had fell in love form him. Some months later, the Enterprise helped Cochrane to escape to the 24th century from his old enemy, Adrik Thorsen. (TOS episode: "Metamorphosis" and novel: Federation) Refit In 2270, following the completion of Kirk's historic five-year mission, the Enterprise returned to Earth. Originally the ship was going to be decommissioned and dismantled after returning to Earth, but the high profile of the nature of the ship and her crew led Starfleet to reverse that decision. However, the Enterprise was still 25 years old by 2270. Despite undergoing several refits over the years, it became apparent that the technology on the ship was becoming outdated, and that a major refitting of the Enterprise would be required. During the final days of Kirk's historic five year mission, new warp technology was being perfected, and Starfleet's Corps of Engineers decided that the Enterprise would be an ideal test-bed for the new technology. When the ship arrived at Earth, she was put into dry dock for this major refit, which would take eighteen months to complete. The original warp nacelles were replaced with newer and larger units. When it was found that the original pylons would not support the weight of the new nacelles, nor would they be large enough to house the plasma transfer conduits, they were also replaced. A new matter / anti-matter reactor was placed in the secondary hull. The impulse engine deck at the rear of the primary hull was switched out during the refit. The exterior navigational deflector was replaced with an internal unit, and a new photon torpedo launching system was added to the connector between the primary and secondary hulls. The bridge module was replaced with a new unit, and the original bridge module was taken and placed on board the USS Yorktown. Docking ports were added to allow shuttle pods to dock with the Enterprise without needing to enter the shuttle bay. When it was found that the main computer would not be powerful enough to handle the new technology - especially the new warp systems, it was replaced (TOS manual: Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise). During the course of the refit, Romulan spies managed to infect the new computer systems with a Trojan Horse virus, which was discovered and removed from the computer systems just before the ship launched. (TOS novel Ex Machina) Command of the ship during the refit was given to Captain Willard Decker, who remained with the Enterprise throughout the entire refit process. The Second Five-Year Mission Captain Decker was slated to retain the command of the Enterprise upon the ship's relaunch; however, then-Admiral Kirk assumed command in response to the crisis involving the machine entity "V'Ger." Because Decker had become intimately familiar with the redesigned Enterprise, Decker remained on board as Kirk's executive officer. Decker was reported missing in action during that mission, and Kirk resumed permanent command of the Enterprise. (TOS comic "The Final Voyage", TOS novel The Lost Years and TOS film Star Trek: The Motion Picture) Immediately after the crisis with V'Ger the Enterprise stopped at a Starbase for final outfitting, which included components that had been left out due to the emergency nature of the launch of the refitted Enterprise. One of the minor items fixed during this layover was the inclusion of an image of the ''Enterprise'' NX-01 in the recreation room display of past vessels named Enterprise. The starbase crew offered to paint the Enterprise, but Kirk declined, preferring the hull unpainted. (TOS novel Ex Machina) One of the first missions of the refitted Enterprise was to travel Lorina when strife broke out amongst the descendants of the Fabrini. (TOS novel Ex Machina) In 2273, the Enterprise went to the planet, Cragon V. The Enterprise was disabled with the IKS Ghargh by the planet’s ruler, Weyland. Three Enterprise crewmembers were sent back into time by Weyland. Captain Kirk was able to show that the Federation were good, and the Enterprise crewmembers were returned. The Enterprise was able to help Commander Kral regain his vessel and the Enterprise was returned to normal by Weyland. The Enterprise went to Starbase 42, afterwards. (TOS novel: Home is the Hunter) In 2278, the Enterprise stopped at Starbase 18 to pick up supplies to bring to Vesta V. After re-supplying the colony, the Enterprise went to the Akkallan System to retrieve a science team. The crew of the Enterprise helped discover the true origins of the Akallan people and stopped the Chorymi from harvesting the Akkallan oceans. The Enterprise went to Earth afterwards. (TOS novel: Deep Domain) Starfleet Academy Training Ship Later, Enterprise was retired from active service, and assigned to Starfleet Academy as a training ship. She was reactivated by Admiral Kirk in response to a crisis involving Project Genesis. The Enterprise soon encountered the [[USS Reliant (NCC-1864)|USS Reliant]], which refused to answer hails as she approached. Even though regulations called for Kirk to assume a defensive posture when the Reliant didn't answer their hails, Kirk ignored the regulation. When the Reliant pulled up alongside the Enterprise, the Reliant opened fire, severely damaging the engineering section. It was then that Khan revealed himself. Kirk was able to use the Enterprise computer to lower Khan's shields, damaging the Reliant enough to drive her off. The Enterprise and Reliant faced off against each other in the Mutara Nebula, with Kirk finally being able to disable the Reliant. Determined to destroy Kirk, a fatally wounded Khan activated the Genesis Device, which would not only destroy the Reliant, but the Enterprise as well when it exploded - which did not have a functional warp drive at the time. Just before the Genesis Device exploded, Spock entered the radiation soaked control chamber, and brought the warp drive back on line. The Enterprise was able to warp away as the Genesis Device exploded. Within a few hours, a new star system had been created, complete with an apparently habitable planet. But in the process, Spock died due to radiation poisoning. (TOS film: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) Final Mission Shortly after Spock sacrificed himself to save the Enterprise and her crew, the ship returned to spacedock. There Kirk and the rest of the crew learned that the Enterprise was to be decommissioned - the ship had been in service for nearly 40 years by then. Dr. McCoy began exhibiting strange behaviors, such as breaking into Spock's quarters and collapsing in Kirk's arms when the Admiral went to confront him. Sarek soon arrived to ask Kirk about Spock's katra, or immortal soul, and it was then the two men learned that Spock had transferred his katra into McCoy. Starfleet refused to allow Kirk to return to the Genesis Planet to retrieve Spock's body, so Kirk and his senior staff decided to go without Starfleet's approval. Kirk and his staff stole the Enterprise, and left for the Genesis Planet. What they didn't know was that a Klingon Bird-of-Prey commanded by Kruge was waiting for them at the planet. When the Klingons managed to disable the Enterprise, Kirk activated the ship's auto-destruct device, and the ship was destroyed while in orbit of the Genesis Planet. Kirk and his crew were able to commandeer the Klingon ship, and used it to travel to Vulcan, where Spock's body and katra were reunited. (TOS film: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock) So significant were the accomplishments of NCC-1701, that Starfleet re-used this registry (with the addition of a letter suffix) for each of the five subsequent starships (to date) to have been christened Enterprise. (TOS film: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) Mission Logs * [[The Early Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|The Early Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)]] * [[Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) (2264 to 2270)|The Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) (2264 to 2270)]] * [[The Continuing Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|The Continuing Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)]] External links * Enterprise (NCC-01701), USS Enterprise (NCC-01701), USS